


more i feel it, more i need it

by marcel



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Bands, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, literally everyone has at least a cameo, sex under the influence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-02
Updated: 2014-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-09 12:11:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7801369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marcel/pseuds/marcel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rock band AU. Sehun doesn’t like the new opener, or their weird indie sound, and especially not their annoying vocalist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	more i feel it, more i need it

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted [here](http://selubration.livejournal.com/15135.html). wassup longest exo fic i’ve ever written, wassup vintage otp
> 
> (originally posted on 11/2/14)

“Bad news,” Chanyeol says, shutting the door behind himself and shrugging off his jacket. “Chaser just bailed.”

Sehun looks up, hands stilling on the neck of his guitar resting over his lap. “You’re joking.”

Chanyeol strides further into the room, shaking his head. “No jokes, they’re on their way back to Busan as we speak.”

Baekhyun groans, pressing his hands over his face and leaning back into the couch. “What the fuck, seriously?”

Frowning, Jongin stands up from his spot on the floor beside Sehun. “Did they say why?”

“Not really, something about getting a better deal?” Chanyeol scrubs a hand over his face. “Howon hung up before I could get a word in, and didn’t answer when I called back.”

Sehun sighs, tipping his head back against the wall. “Of course not, that would’ve made our lives too easy.” Howon had always been a prick.

“They know the gig is tomorrow, right?” Jongin asks slowly. “Did they not think about how high and dry they just left us?”

Chanyeol shrugs helplessly. “I guess it was really important.”

“Yeah, important enough that they called _you_ instead of our manager,” Baekhyun scoffs. He sits up straighter, crossing his arms. “I bet they didn’t pay us back what we gave them up front, either.”

“Whatever,” Sehun says, shrugging. “It’s not that much of a loss.”

“Excuse me?” Baekhyun splutters, staring at him incredulously. “In what way is losing our opening band not a loss?”

“I’m just saying,” Sehun huffs. “They were jerks from the beginning. We shouldn’t be playing shows with them, anyway.”

Baekhyun clenches his hands into fists, glaring at him. “You’re missing the point.”

“Chaser did us a favour by dropping out,” Sehun says. “The point is, now we don’t have to deal with a shitty opener like them.”

“No, the point is we don’t _have_ an opener anymore!” Baekhyun snaps. He presses the heels of his palms over his eyes, letting out an angry breath. “Can you _please_ pretend to care about the rest of us for, like, two seconds?”

Sehun glares at him, opening his mouth to snarl something back, but Chanyeol steps in between them. “Leave it,” he says pleadingly. “You can fight later, now isn’t the time.”

“We have a little over twenty-four hours to find an opener for tomorrow night,” Jongin says, running a hand through his hair. “Plus a way to pay them.”

“Plus someone has to call Junmyeon to let him know,” Chanyeol adds, “and it isn’t gonna be me.”

\--

Despite the stress and flimsy plans and general instability that comes with the job, Sehun really does like being in a band. The feeling of elation that comes with being on stage, with connecting to the audience and sending a message, is something he wouldn’t trade for the world.

Black Pearl had come a long way since their beginnings in Chanyeol’s dad’s garage and any club that would have them, and even though they’ve only been bandmates for a few years, the other three are (as uncomfortable as it is for Sehun to say out loud) his closest friends. They’d been together for some important milestones, after all - Chanyeol buying his first car, Sehun’s first legal drink, Baekhyun’s month-long laryngitis, that time Jongin almost dropped his bass down the service stairs, and, of course, their record deal and all that came with Black Pearl being signed.

It was the best and most terrifying rollercoaster Sehun had ever been on, and it ended with their album in the top 20 and enough profit to move out of the tiny apartment the four of them had somehow crammed themselves into. Junmyeon, their new manager, recommended that they continue living together to promote team-bonding, which they weren’t so sure of at first - Sehun still isn’t so sure about it, having been woken up countless times by Baekhyun’s perfectly on-pitch shower singing or, sometimes, Chanyeol’s sleep-drumming - but everything else Junmyeon told them had been right, so they moved into their four-bedroom sort-of-soundproof new home.

There are downsides, like sleep disturbances, and Sehun definitely fights with Baekhyun the most, but at the end of the day, there’s no one Sehun would rather stand on stage with than the three boys that helped create the best thing that’s ever happened to him. All he wants is to rise higher with them - and they had been rising, recently, Black Pearl’s popularity increasing enough so that Sehun thought they were past the days of scrambling to cover the cost of booking venues or, as in this case, to find a decent band to hype up the crowd before their timeslot.

But here they are, spread out on the floor with Junmyeon pacing through the living room to the kitchen and back again as they all wrack their brains for local, available, trustworthy bands.

“We didn’t play _that_ many shows with Chaser, did we?” Baekhyun sighs, rolling over onto his back and glaring up at the ceiling. “Who opened for us before them?”

“Mr. Simple, I think,” Chanyeol says, turning his head so his cheek is pressed to the floor. “Are they--?”

“Nope,” Junmyeon answers as he makes another lap around the couch. “They’re busy with studio time right now. They got a record deal.”

“Yeah, from doing shows with _us_ ,” Baekhyun huffs.

“Are you _sure_ we can’t just do it alone?” Sehun groans, exasperated, but Junmyeon shakes his head before he disappears back into the kitchen.

“It wouldn’t look good for Black Pearl to do a sudden solo gig out of nowhere. Especially right before the music festival.”

Across the room, Chanyeol wiggles excitedly, as he had been doing every time Pentaport Rock Festival was mentioned ever since they got confirmation, months ago, that they would be in the lineup. Not that Sehun isn’t just as stoked for it as Chanyeol and the rest of them are, but he likes to think he has a better handle on his feelings than that.

He does have to admit Junmyeon has a point, though - at such a large event, their image is important.

“What about Red Light?” he asks, knowing he’s grasping at straws.

“Red Light is on their own tour right now,” Junmyeon calls, somewhere near the stove. “They wouldn’t be able to help even if they wanted to.”

Sehun and Baekhyun both groan, but Chanyeol raises his head a little. “What if we call the record company?” he suggests. “Get them to send us another band on our label. That should be okay, right?”

Junmyeon pauses for a moment in the middle of the room, then sighs and crosses his arms. “Sehun doesn’t like any of the other bands on our label,” he says.

That much is true, Sehun supposes, mentally sifting through their label mates. He’s gotten into a fight with at least one member of every act. The company Christmas party last year had been a nightmare.

Baekhyun scowls. “I don’t _care_ who Sehun likes or dislikes. We don’t have a choice, so he’s gonna have to suck it up.”

“Maybe not,” Jongin chimes in, rising from the corner where he had been huddled up with his phone. “I know someone who might be able to help.”

The others stand up and crowd around him, peering at his phone screen, but all he has open is his contact list. He taps one entry but there’s no contact photo, only a phone number and the name ‘Luhan’.

“There’s this guy in town, an old friend of mine,” Jongin explains. “I was texting him earlier to see if he wanted to meet up, but it turns out he’s here with his band, and they have a show tonight.” He looks up at Junmyeon, smiling hopefully. “I’m not sure how long they’re staying afterwards, but… we could ask?”

“Sounds good,” Junmyeon says, beaming back at him. “We’d need to do it pretty soon, though. Can you call him now, ask if there’s a manager we can talk to?”

“I have all the members’ phone numbers,” Jongin says, scrolling down through his contact list. “Their manager is--”

“Hold on,” Sehun cuts in, leaning away from the huddle with a grimace. “Are you serious about this? None of us other than Jongin know anything about these guys.”

“Who cares?” Baekhyun sighs as Chanyeol ruffles Jongin’s hair. “Whoever they are, they have the potential to save our asses. That’s good enough for me.”

Sehun ignores him, looking to Chanyeol instead and hoping his stare looks somewhat pleading. Chanyeol just gives him a sheepish smile. “They’re friends with Jongin, right?” he says with a shrug. “If he trusts them, then I do too.”

“Four against one!” Baekhyun cheers. Sehun scowls at him.

Junmyeon touches Sehun’s shoulder gently, half comforting gesture-half keeping him from smacking his bandmate. “Sehun does have a point,” he says, looking back at Jongin. “We should probably know a little about this band before we ask them for a favour.”

“Sure,” Jongin says, nodding as he starts to count on his fingers. “Uh, they’re called Lost Planet. There’s five members. They formed in China, but two of them are Korean. Yixing - that’s the guitarist - he told me they’ve been working on writing music in both languages--”

“Cool, whatever,” Sehun interrupts, crossing his arms. “What do they sound like?”

Jongin frowns, brow furrowing in thought. “Kind of... indie, I guess?”

Sehun immediately makes a face. It’s not his least favourite genre, but it’s definitely somewhere close to the bottom of the list. He likes his music harsh and loud with soul-reverberation, not ukuleles.

Chanyeol nudges him in the ribs. “Lighten up,” he laughs. “If they sound good, it doesn’t matter what genre they are.”

Sehun glares at him. “But if they _don’t_ sound good, it could cost us the crowd, before we even go on.”

“Just-- give them a chance, okay?” Jongin says, looking at Sehun somewhat pleadingly. “They’re great guys, really. They won’t let us down.”

Unable to resist his best friend’s stare, Sehun grudgingly deflates. “Fine,” he sighs, trying to sound bitter, but Jongin shoots him a grateful smile before ducking out of the room, and his resolve crumbles even further.

Skeptical as he may be, Sehun knows they’re pretty desperate, and this mystery band is kind of their only hope. If Lost Planet agree to do the gig, it’s not really going to matter if he likes them or not - which, he supposes, gives him free reign to dislike them as much as he wants. He sets his jaw and stares resolutely at the wall, trying his best to ignore the others’ excited chattering and, fainter, the sound of Jongin in the next room, laughing into his phone.

It doesn’t really work.

\--

Lost Planet’s venue for that night is a decently-sized theatre, not somewhere Black Pearl has played before but still just as artsy-looking as Sehun expects it to be. There’s still a few hours before doors open, so it’s easy enough to find parking and make their way inside, especially with Junmyeon in the lead, looking professional enough in his more-business-than-casual business casual to allow them to go unquestioned.

Soon enough they’re pushing through a final set of doors into the actual theatre, with rows and rows of seats leading up to the elevated stage. It doesn’t look like much with the lights on, and the mess of mic stands and extension cords suggest the band is only part way through setting up. There are a few boys on stage fiddling with instrument cases who Sehun supposes are the band members, and one shorter guy on the ground, directing them. He turns around when Sehun and the others approach, and immediately breaks into a grin. “Jongin!” he calls, abandoning his post by the stage to bound over and hug him.

Jongin returns the hug before stepping back, the two of them beaming at each other. “Guys, this is Jongdae,” he says, somehow managing it around his massive grin. “He’s Lost Planet’s manager.”

Jongdae finally seems to notice the rest of the band behind Jongin. “You brought friends!” he crows. Sehun feels his nerves grating already.

“Yeah, this is Black Pearl,” Jongin says excitedly, and quickly introduces each of the members.

Jongdae smiles at each of them in turn but raises his eyebrows at Junmyeon, looking him up and down. “Who’s the suit?”

“Our manager,” Jongin answers, trying not to laugh.

Junmyeon looks more surprised than insulted though, and Sehun thinks his face might be a little pink when he shakes Jongdae’s hand. “I don’t know how much Jongin told you,” he starts, trailing off when Jongdae gives him a confused expression.

“Told me what?” he asks, looking back and forth between him and Jongin.

“I didn’t actually say anything,” Jongin admits sheepishly. “I didn’t know how to bring it up.”

Behind his back, Baekhyun catches Sehun’s gaze and rolls his eyes. Sehun resists the urge to do the same.

“We have a proposition,” Junmyeon says, and Jongdae perks up immediately.

“What, like a gig deal?”

“More or less, there’s just some things that--”

Something on stage clangs loudly, making them all jump, and the boy behind the drumkit gives them an apologetic wave before he bends to pick up the cymbals he dropped. Junmyeon smiles weakly, then turns back to Jongdae. “Is there somewhere we can talk that’s a little, uh, quieter?”

Jongdae beckons for him to follow, then leads Junmyeon up onto the stage and past the curtains on one side. Jongin, Chanyeol and Baekhyun also head to the stage, greeting the other band and starting to help them with set up. Sehun watches them go, then turns and walks in the opposite direction.

He goes back the way they came, up through the rows of seats to a door near the back, propped open with a chair so the outside breeze filters in. Stepping through the opening, he takes a deep breath of fresh air and leans back against the wall of the building. It’s a little bit cold, but the sound from the stage doesn’t echo all the way outside, so Sehun figures he can deal with it.

Sighing, he tips his head back. There are so many places he’d rather be than here. He knows this is their only option and all that - he can’t _not_ know at this point, with the other members reminding him every time he so much as frowns - but that doesn’t mean he’s completely alright with letting this random indie band open for them, like Baekhyun and Chanyeol seem to be. Jongin at least has the excuse of already knowing the band, but the other two are too enthusiastic about this whole ordeal for Sehun’s liking.

There’s nothing he can do, though, not unless he goes back inside, which he refuses to do until Junmyeon comes back with an answer. He can already imagine the other members telling him he’s just being stubborn, and maybe he is - but mostly, he just wants to go back home so he can sulk about this in peace. Of course, it’s right after this thought that he’s interrupted by someone poking their head out the door.

Some short guy, not someone Sehun had seen on the stage before, leans out and peers around, his ridiculous honey-coloured hair getting ruffled a little by the breeze. He looks up at Sehun with a frown. “Have you seen Jongdae?”

He must be venue staff, Sehun guesses. It would explain the weird hair colour. An artsy theatre like this probably attracted weird indie employees to deal with the weird indie bands. “Somewhere backstage,” he answers shortly, and the guy nods before moving to duck back inside.

“Hey,” Sehun calls after him, waiting until he leans out the door again before continuing. “When you find him, can you tell him and the guy he’s with to hurry it up? We don’t have time to wait around all day.”

Staff-guy gives him a weird smile and, to Sehun’s surprise, steps over the chair to join him against the wall. Up close, Sehun can see beyond his fluffy bangs, taking in his bright eyes and long lashes. Ridiculously long. To match his ridiculous hair, Sehun supposes.

“You’re from Black Pearl, right?” Staff-guy asks, bringing Sehun back to the present. He’s a little thrown that this random indie kid apparently recognizes him, but it’s not a bad thing - maybe their fanbase is expanding, or something.

“Yeah,” he answers slowly. “Oh Sehun, lead guitar.”

Staff-guy waves that off. “The rest of your band is inside, you know.”

Sehun scoffs, crossing his arms. “I know where they are.”

“So why are you out here instead?”

“Because we’re not here to help,” Sehun huffs.

Staff-guy cocks his head a little, eyebrows raised. “Then what _are_ you here for?”

Sehun supposes there’s nothing wrong with ranting to a stranger for a bit - Black Pearl won’t be coming back to this venue, anyway. “I’m _here_ to avoid meeting the members of some weird indie band I don’t care about while our manager tries to make a deal with theirs.” He glares down at the ground. “It’s pointless to get acquainted if we’re only doing one show and then going separate ways.”

“Your bandmates don’t seem to care,” Staff-guy says, glancing at the door.

“Well, I do.” Sehun looks up at him, eyes narrowed. “Don’t you have something to be doing? I thought you were looking for Jongdae.”

Staff-guy shrugs, pushing off from the wall and climbing back over the chair in the doorway. Sehun leans back again, prepared to be left alone, but the now-familiar head of honey-hair peeks back out. “Are you coming?”

Sehun gives him a strange look. “Why would I?”

“You don’t have to,” he says, already stepping away. “I just thought, since you said you had a message for our managers...”

Sehun blinks a few times, processing his words before he catches on. “ _Our_ \--? Wait, what?” He dashes forward, hopping over the chair and catching the guy’s shoulder before he can start walking away. “What the hell are you talking about? I thought you were--”

“Lost Planet’s vocalist,” the guy says, holding out his hand with a smile. “I’m Luhan. Nice to meet you.”  
  
Sehun’s fingers slip off his shoulder. Of course, who else could the random stranger possibly be, other than a member of the band he was just complaining about? Whatever game the universe is playing, Sehun hopes it’s having a really good time watching him partake in the most awkward handshake of his life.

As soon as Sehun lets go, Luhan spins around and starts to walk again, leaving Sehun to hurry after him as they head toward the stage. He’s not sure if he should say anything, or apologize - Luhan had smiled at him, hadn’t he? Did that mean he wasn’t upset?

“Uh,” he starts, words sticking in his throat. “What I said outside, I didn’t really-- I was just--”

“Don’t worry about it,” Luhan cuts him off, glancing back over his shoulder. “I mean, it doesn’t matter to _me_. I’m not too sure how the other members are gonna feel about some broody guitarist saying he doesn’t want anything to do with them, though - especially when we’re supposed to be making some sort of gig deal with you?” He hums for a moment, and Sehun’s heart sinks. “Nevermind. Maybe worry about it.”

Sehun tries his best not to panic as he follows Luhan up to the stage and past the curtains, mentally running through all he had said outside. Did he really just mess up this whole deal, their only hope for the show tomorrow night and Black Pearl’s reputation afterwards? Baekhyun would flay him alive, and even Junmyeon would probably help.

He shakes his head, trying to focus on more realistic repercussions, but his mind runs away with them. What if they can’t play the show at all, or they do but lose the crowd, lose their fans? What if they can’t sell anymore, and the label drops them? Or what if, after all of it, Black Pearl ends up disbanding--

Luhan looks back at him, eyes widening at Sehun’s sickly expression. “Whoa, I’m kidding,” he laughs. “I’m not gonna go announce to my members that you hate them, seriously.”

Sehun feels his face heating up a little, and scowls at him to offset it. On the inside he’s heaving a massive sigh of relief, but Luhan doesn’t need to know that. “I don’t hate them, I don’t even _know_ them.”

“Exactly,” Luhan says with a grin. “Once you do, you’ll probably change your mind. For now, though, it doesn’t really matter. Besides,” he adds, glancing back once more as he leads Sehun through the sidestage, “you already broke your own rule and got acquainted with me.”

Sehun pauses mid-step, dumbfounded for a split second before he recovers and focuses a glare at the back of Luhan’s head. He’s right, Sehun has to admit, but he’s also being annoying about it, and seems to be very aware of that fact. Whatever, Sehun huffs to himself, following Luhan up to a door marked ‘Green Room’. If Lost Planet’s hipster vocalist wants to be a pain in the ass, so be it. Sehun has dealt with enough sideshow douchebags to know he can handle this.

Luhan doesn’t bother knocking before he pushes the door open, and a bit of the managers’ conversation reaches Sehun’s ears, zoning him back in.

“We can’t pay you the full amount,” Junmyeon is explaining sheepishly. “Our other opener asked for half up front, and some of the festival expenses still aren’t covered.”

“Was Chaser part of the lineup for that, too?” Jongdae asks, and Junmyeon nods.

“Although, I don’t know if they’re still--”

“Need something?” Jongdae asks, cutting Junmyeon off when he notices Luhan and Sehun standing in the doorway.

“We’re ready for soundcheck,” Luhan tells him, then starts back towards the stage. Sehun follows, making sure to glare at him a little more before joining the other members already on stage, but then Junmyeon and Jongdae reappear, the latter clapping his hands loudly.

“Band meeting!” he cries, shooing Junmyeon and the Black Pearl members off the stage. Sehun shoots him a glare too, but follows Jongin down the steps and into a small huddle around Junmyeon. On the stage, the members of Lost Planet are doing the same around Jongdae while he waves his arms.

“Well?” Baekhyun whispers anxiously, bringing Sehun’s attention back to his own band. “Did he say yes?”

“I don’t know yet,” Junmyeon says with a shrug. “Let’s give him a chance to talk to the band, and then--”

“We’ll do it,” Jongdae announces from the stage, and the others whip around to stare at him.

“Seriously?” Chanyeol squeaks, grinning from ear to ear.

“If,” Jongdae continues, holding up a hand, “you get us into the festival lineup.”

There’s a brief silence, which Sehun breaks with a scoff. “You’ve got to be joking.”

Jongdae shakes his head, smirking. “Bring Lost Planet to Pentaport Rock Festival, and we’ll do the gig tomorrow night.”

Sehun has to hold back the urge to laugh out loud. “The festival is in like two weeks, we can’t just ask them to change the lineup--”

“Actually,” Junmyeon cuts in, “maybe we can. If Chaser drops out, there will be an empty space in the program. I’m sure the festival organizers wouldn’t have a problem with us suggesting a band to fill it.”

“You can’t seriously be considering this,” Sehun groans, but Baekhyun shushes him.

“What if Chaser doesn’t drop out, though?” Chanyeol asks.

“As it happens, a few of the organizers are family friends,” Junmyeon says with a sly smile. “Trust me, Chaser won’t be playing.”

Both bands _ooh_ in appreciation. Even Sehun has to admit that their manager can pull some pretty impressive punches sometimes.

Grinning, Jongdae hops off the stage and trots over to them. He stops in front of Junmyeon and sticks his hand out. “Do we have a deal, then?”

He waggles his eyebrows. Junmyeon swallows audibly.

Sehun expects something dramatic to happen when they shake hands, some sign that shows the gravity of the agreement made, but there’s nothing. His bandmates cheer a little, the Lost Planet members high-five each other, and Junmyeon blushes some more, but the air in the venue still feels the same and Sehun is almost disappointed.

He glances at the stage and locks eyes with Luhan, who smiles brightly at him. Sehun frowns and turns away, shoving his hands in his pockets. He does feel a bit more annoyed than he had pre-handshake, he supposes. Maybe that’s enough of a sign.

“What do you think?” Jongin asks later, as they make their way back to Junmyeon’s car. He’s almost vibrating with excitement, a genuine bounce in his step. Sehun grimaces. “They’re great, right? They haven’t changed at all since I last saw them.”

“They seem cool,” Chanyeol says brightly. “I wish we could’ve stayed for their set tonight, though. I really want to hear that one song Yixing was talking about.”

“You’ll probably hear it tomorrow night,” Baekhyun reminds him. Sehun rolls his eyes.

“At least if we stayed we’d know what to expect,” he grumbles, shoving his hands in his pockets. “We still have no clue if they even sound good. I mean, at least Chaser played _rock_.”

“Yeah, but Chaser also screwed us over royally,” Baekhyun says sweetly. “We don’t have time to audition a bunch of punk rock boybands for tomorrow night, and Lost Planet is offering their help right now. We’d be stupid to say no.”

Sehun scowls and looks away, but he knows Baekhyun is right.

“What about you?” Chanyeol asks Junmyeon, who’s been staring off to space the whole walk across the parking lot.

“Cute,” Junmyeon says, a little dreamily. Everyone stops and turns to stare at him, and he blinks a few times, zoning back in. “I - I mean,” he stutters, cheeks flushing, “their... style is cute. Lyrics and sound and… yeah.”

“I agree!” Chanyeol says, grinning again. By then they’ve reached the car, and Junmyeon takes the opportunity to hide his face while he fumbles with his keys.

Jongin leans closer to Sehun, cupping his hands to whisper to him. “Did he even hear them play anything?”

“Definitely not,” Sehun whispers back, and the two of them hide snickers behind their hands as they’re ushered into the car by a still pink-faced Junmyeon.

\--

After a lot of rushing around, calling the venue and changing signs and whatever other incredibly-last-minute changes had to be made, the gig is finally good to go with Lost Planet opening. Judging by the line of people waiting that they drive past when they arrive at the venue, Sehun figures there’s not much love lost between Black Pearl and their fans.

He’s still a little nervous about the whole indie-band-genre-clash thing, but is making an effort not to let it show. Earlier he had debated purposefully showing up late and missing Lost Planet’s set, but Junmyeon had apparently read his mind and insisted on giving Sehun a lift to the venue himself. His vague plan foiled, Sehun had decided to make the most of the situation, annoying as it is.

They’re a bit late anyway, thanks to traffic, and by the time Sehun and Junmyeon arrive backstage, everything is already set up and both bands are lounging on the couches in the green room. It’s kind of stuffy with eleven guys in one room, but Sehun has played in shittier venues than this one, so he’ll take what he can get.

He joins Jongin in one corner, sliding his guitar case off his shoulders and setting it down on the floor to unzip. “About time,” Jongin says, looking up from his half-tuned bass to smirk at him. “I was worried you were gonna show up halfway through the set.”

“I considered it,” Sehun says, impassive.

“Come on,” Jongin laughs. “This is just like any other show. Once you get onstage, you’ll forget you were ever dreading it.”

“I’m not _dreading_ it,” Sehun huffs, gripping the tuning pegs just a little tighter than he should. “I’m just… apprehensive.”

Jongin frowns. “You said you would give them a chance,” he reminds him.

Sehun doesn’t look up, glowering at his guitar strings instead. “It’ll be fine,” Jongin insists. “Lost Planet is--”

“Lost Planet is what?” someone asks from behind them, and Sehun whips his head around to stare up at the intruder on their conversation.

It’s Luhan. Of course it’s Luhan. He walks right past Sehun and over to Jongin, slumping down on the floor and leaning heavily against him. “Super impressive?” he suggests. “Amazingly talented? Incredibly humble?”

“Don’t fish for compliments,” Jongin snickers, nudging him away. Luhan pouts and looks over at Sehun instead, smiling when he catches his gaze. He’s wearing eyeliner, like Baekhyun sometimes does for performances. Luhan must apply it differently than he does, though - Sehun is pretty sure makeup has never made Baekhyun’s eyes stand out like Luhan’s do, bright and almost intense, deep even from a distance.

Sehun makes himself look away, back down at his guitar as he hastily plugs into an amp. He strums a few times, checking his tuning while conveniently drowning out Jongin and Luhan’s conversation.

“Your B string is a little flat,” someone pipes up next to his ear, making him jump. He glares up at the newcomer, a boy in a sweater with an acoustic guitar slung over his back. “Sorry, did I startle you?”

“No,” Sehun grumbles. The boy hums and crouches down next to him, carefully running one finger over the headstock of Sehun’s guitar and pulling his hand back before Sehun can jerk away.

“It’s really nice,” he says, giving Sehun a dimpled smile. “You must take really good care of it. You’re Sehun, right?”

Sehun nods, relaxing a little. “And you’re…” He pauses, fishing around for the names Chanyeol had told him the night before. “Yixing?”

“Yes!” Yixing says, clapping his hands. “I play guitar, same as you.”

He seems very excited about the whole thing. Sehun doesn’t really understand why, but at the same time it’s refreshing to see someone so enthusiastic.

“Have you met the others?” Yixing asks, and when Sehun shakes his head he jumps to his feet with another smile and gestures for him to follow. Sehun surprises himself with how fast he puts his guitar down and stands up to join him.

“That’s Kyungsoo,” Yixing says, pointing at a boy sitting next to Baekhyun on one of the couches, “our bassist. Beside him is Zitao--”

“Drummer,” Sehun says, watching him tap his feet like kick pedals. Two seats over, Chanyeol has the same habit.

Yixing nods, turning him in another direction. “Over there, speaking with your manager, is Minseok. He’s keyboards and synthesizer. While we’re in Korea, we stay at his house.

“And this,” he continues, turning Sehun around again and leading him back to where he was originally sitting, “is Lu--”

“Luhan,” Sehun says flatly. Luhan grins up at him, still leaning on Jongin. “I know him already.”

“You haven’t heard us play yet, have you?” Yixing asks, somehow still absolutely stoked. “I hope we surpass your expectations.”

“That won’t be hard,” Luhan yawns. Sehun glares at him.

“Sehun is just a little worried about both bands’ sounds clashing,” Jongin explains, but Sehun can tell he’s trying not to laugh at Luhan’s dramatic eye-roll.

“I don’t like my music to have _twang_ ,” Sehun says defensively.

“Ah, you’re thinking indie- _folk_ ,” Yixing explains. “We’re more indie-pop. Or indie-pop-rock? One of those.”

“Great,” Sehun deadpans.

The door to the stage is suddenly thrown open and Jongdae rushes in, looking a little frazzled but more ecstatic than anything. “Five minutes,” he announces, and around the room the Lost Planet members stand up to gather their instruments and head out.

Jongin pokes Luhan in the leg as he’s brushing himself off. “Good luck out there.”

“You too, for later,” Luhan says. He turns to Sehun, lips quirked. “You’ll be watching us, right?”

“Maybe,” Sehun answers shortly, looking away with a frown. “Maybe not.”

Luhan shrugs and follows the others to the door, throwing Jongin an exaggerated wink before he disappears. Sehun frowns deeper.

Greeted by a wall of noise from the audience, Lost Planet take the stage. Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Jongin rush off to watch from behind the sidestage curtains but Sehun stays in the green room, stubbornly pacing back and forth. He manages to hold out for two full songs before his curiosity gets the better of him, and he sneaks out to join the others where they’re peeking out at the stage. He’s pretty sure Jongin rolls his eyes at him, but backstage is all but pitch black, so he pretends he didn’t see it and instead focuses on Lost Planet’s performance.

They’re pretty good; still not rock music, but Sehun does have to admit their sound is a lot farther from folk than what he was expecting, which is a relief. The crowd is responding well, yelling their lungs out over the noise of the band. Sehun wonders if any of them are Lost Planet fans that managed to get tickets at the last minute. He tries to shift a little to look out at the audience, maybe see if he can spot any signs for them being held up, but Luhan steps into his line of vision instead.

Under the stage lights, he’s captivating. Sehun can’t hear many of the words he sings over the screaming crowd and Zitao’s drumbeats, but he can watch him move, jumping in place along with the floor-seaters and striding purposefully across the stage to press up back-to-back against Yixing. Sehun barely glances at the other members though, and his eyes follow Luhan for the whole song. He has presence unlike anything Sehun has ever seen - the music is enough, but Luhan makes the stage come alive beneath his feet.

“See?” Chanyeol whispers, popping up beside him. “They don’t even _have_ a ukulele player.”

Sehun smacks him and looks back at the stage, but the song is ending and the moment is over. As Luhan bows to the audience, Sehun can just see the edge of the bright smile on his face.

He doesn’t have time to dwell on it though - Lost Planet’s set is over two songs later and the fifteen minutes before Black Pearl goes on is taken up by last-second tuning and mic checks. Before he knows it, Sehun is waiting behind the sidestage curtains again with the other three members, the familiar weight of his guitar settled in his arms.

Baekhyun steps up beside him and tugs on his elbow, drawing him a few feet away from Chanyeol and Jongin. “Listen,” he says, voice low enough for only Sehun to hear, “I know for the last couple days we’ve both been stressed as hell, and I just wanna say sorry, okay?” He looks down, fiddling with the wire for his in-ear monitor. “I didn’t mean to be that much of a dick.”

“Alright,” Sehun says blankly. Baekhyun grimaces and smacks his arm.

“I’m gonna take that as an ‘I’m sorry too’, asshole,” he grumbles, but there’s a grin on his face and Sehun can’t help smiling back.

It’s then that the lights start to dim, and the growing noise of the crowd reaches Sehun’s ears as he’s ushered onto the stage. The members take their places in the dark, quiet for a moment before Chanyeol’s count-in and the first breath Baekhyun takes, and then the stage lights are flashing on and the crowd is roaring, and Sehun doesn’t think about anything except his fingers on the strings and the sound the four of them fill the space with.

\--

Kyungsoo is the first one to suggest going out for drinks after the gig, and immediately rises several places in Sehun’s list of good people. Jongin opts out, as usual, preferring to go home and sleep as soon as possible after shows, and Yixing takes Zitao back to Minseok’s place to follow his example, but the rest of the band members head to the closest bar-slash-club.

They manage to fit their whole group - sans Junmyeon and Jongdae, who go up a floor by themselves to discuss the festival - around one table in a booth, a feat of which Chanyeol is especially proud. Looking around at the other musicians, Sehun finds himself feeling pretty good, except for the way Luhan’s bony elbow is getting a little too close to his ribs. A literal pain in his side. Hilarious.

As soon as the first round is distributed and the second is half-downed, Baekhyun pipes up. “So,” he drawls, turning to Luhan with eyebrows raised, “who are you, and how do you know our Jongin?”

Luhan pouts playfully. “You mean he never talked about me?”

“I had literally never heard of you,” Chanyeol chimes in, then frowns a little. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Luhan laughs, then sits up a bit straighter as the whole table’s focus shifts to him. “Jongin and I, we’ve been friends for a long time. We were in a band together, years ago.”

“Wait, you never told us that, either,” Minseok says, narrowing his eyes at his bandmate. Sehun resists the urge to nod along, a little offended that Jongin hadn’t told him, his best friend, about his very first band.

“How many years are we talking about?” Baekhyun asks.

Luhan shrugs, looking sheepish. “Like, during high school.”

“That’s so cool,” Chanyeol says, eyes sparkling. “I was in a band in high school, too! Heavy Noize.” He sighs wistfully. “We won a talent show, once.”

“Well, that’s already more than us,” Luhan admits. “We never really did much aside from deciding on the name.”

“Which was?”

“Uh, Younique Unit.”

Sehun scrunches his nose in distaste while the rest of them burst out laughing. “Just for that, I’ll buy the next round,” Baekhyun announces, clapping Luhan on the shoulder as he stands up.

Sliding out of the booth after him, Sehun follows Baekhyun over to the bar, eager to get away when the conversation seems like it’s going to be centred on Luhan for a while. Baekhyun doesn’t even look surprised, just barely rolling his eyes before he signals the bartender. He doesn’t say anything though, and the quiet while they wait gives Sehun an opportunity to look around the bar.

It’s not terribly crowded, a couple empty tables but a full dance floor, and Sehun glances over a few faces before settling his gaze on a girl at the other end of the bar counter. She’s standing with a few other people, talking and laughing with them. Sehun’s eyes wander from her pretty smile to her wavy hair, following the fall of it over her shoulders. Her shirt seems a little too tight, clinging to her curves and stretching thin over her bust. Sehun lingers on the lines of her bra for a long moment before Baekhyun clears his throat, waving a drink in front of his face.

Mumbling his thanks, Sehun takes the glass and looks back at the girl as he takes a sip. Baekhyun follows his gaze and sighs. “Your taste never changes, does it.”

Sehun glowers at him. “Neither does my ability to score, so shove off.”

Baekhyun just shrugs, smirking as he picks up the tray with the rest of their group’s drinks and starts back to their table. Sehun watches him place it down and hand the glasses out before he leans over to say something to Luhan. Whatever it is, it makes Luhan look over at Sehun with a sly smile, at which point Sehun turns away, refusing to give him any more of his attention.

His eyes find the same girl again, and he tries to focus on her even as he feels someone come up beside him and hears Luhan’s voice ordering a shot. The girl is moving closer to the dance floor, pulling her shirt up a little to better cover her cleavage, but Sehun can already imagine it slipping down again once she starts dancing, even considers getting up and joining her on the floor, asking to buy her a drink--

Luhan taps his shoulder, and Sehun turns around before he can remember not to. Fuck.

“Hi,” Luhan says before he can whip back around. “Is your scoring ability as bad as Baekhyun seems to think?”

Sehun gives him a blank stare. “Do you have a constant need to be on someone’s nerves, or is it just mine?”

Luhan laughs, eyes crinkling. “Sorry,” he says, sounding anything but. “It’s just really easy to tease you about, you know, literally anything.”

He snickers a little more and Sehun glares at him, but its more playful than anything. He even feels himself starting to smile along with Luhan. He blames the alcohol. “What, you only like me ‘cause I’m easy to pick on?”

“Nah,” Luhan sighs, leaning back against the bar. “I like you ‘cause you’re cute.”

Sehun snorts. “Why don’t you go make fun of your own band?”

“I would never,” Luhan gasps, mock-offended. “Plus, none of them would take me as seriously as you do.”

Sehun rolls his eyes, but Luhan keeps going. “Even _your_ bandmates wouldn’t be as fun. Jongin never liked that sort of thing, teasing and stuff. I don’t think Chanyeol would care much... Baekhyun, maybe?” He taps his chin for a moment, then smiles wryly. “But he’s got his guard dog, over there.”

Sehun follows his gaze across the room. Baekhyun is on one side, part of the mass on the dance floor with a guy moving behind him, maybe just a little too close. On the other is Chanyeol, still seated at their table but his eyes are on Baekhyun, watching him move.

“Ah,” Sehun says. “Yeah. That’s a thing.”

Luhan raises his eyebrows. “Are _they_ a thing?”

Sehun shrugs. “Dunno. I’ve never asked.”

“But aren’t you curious?” Luhan asks, looking back at the two of them.

“Not really,” Sehun sighs. The guy dancing with Baekhyun steps closer to him, his hands coming up to slide around his hips, but Baekhyun slips out of his grasp with a playful smirk. “It’s their business, not mine.”

“They’re your bandmates,” Luhan points out. “If they’re unhappy, it’s your business.”

“They’re not unhappy,” Sehun says. It comes out more defensively than he means it to. “Look, this happens all the time. Baek gets drunk and flirts around, Chanyeol gets fed up with it and intervenes. Watch.”

As if on cue, Chanyeol stands up from their table, abruptly enough to startle both Kyungsoo and Minseok, and makes his way to the dance floor. He slides smoothly in between Baekhyun and his new dance partner, breaking them apart with a possessive arm around Baekhyun’s waist. He pulls Baekhyun away from the floor and off to one side of the room, pushing him up against the wall with a serious look on his face.

Baekhyun just smiles up at him, cheeks flushed from alcohol and dancing. He leans in a little to whisper something in Chanyeol’s ear, and when he pulls back to look at him again Chanyeol grabs his hand. With interlocking fingers, they start towards the doors.

“See? It’s fine.”

“Where are they going?” Luhan asks, watching them slip outside.

“Home, probably,” Sehun says, sipping his drink. “Usually they go off and grind somewhere.”

Luhan makes a face. “Too much information.”

“I guess I’m desensitized,” Sehun says. He glances at Luhan, still grimacing, and laughs a little. “What, are _your_ bandmates completely normal?”

“Of course not,” Luhan says. “I don’t think that’s possible in the music industry.”

“That’s fair,” Sehun agrees, and watches Luhan drink his shot before he opens his mouth again. “What about you and Jongin?” he asks. “Were you really in a band together?”

Luhan smirks, putting the shot glass down. “What, you don’t believe me?”

Sehun shrugs. “Jongin never really mentioned you until yesterday, is all.”

“I’m not surprised, to be honest,” Luhan sighs, leaning back against the counter. “The band didn’t last long, since I had to go back to Beijing after high school.”

“So, what, a messy disbandment?” Sehun can’t picture it, not with how Jongin had been smiling and laughing with Luhan earlier.

“Not really. There wasn’t much to disband,” Luhan admits, laughing a little. “I mean, a lot of the time, ‘band practice’ was just as excuse to go make out somewhere.”

Sehun’s brain fizzles a bit. “I-- You and Jongin were--?”

“A thing,” Luhan says simply, shrugging. “We didn’t really have time to make it anything more, because I had to leave, but… we stayed close afterwards. Stayed in touch.”

Sehun keeps his mouth shut, not entirely sure how to react. For all he thought he knew his best friend, he never knew anything about this - the high school band, the breakup, Luhan in general. Surely if it were something he wanted shared, he would’ve told Sehun ages ago. It’s uncomfortable, knowing something which he’s not certain Jongin would want him to know. He’s suddenly very glad that Jongin didn’t end up coming to the bar with them.

“Anyway, if we’re playing twenty questions, it’s my turn,” Luhan says, apparently unfazed by Sehun’s lack of a reaction. “What happened with your other opener?”

Sehun blinks. “Chaser? They fucked off to Busan without telling us.”

“I know _that_ ,” Luhan says impatiently, waving his hand. “I mean beforehand.” At Sehun’s strange look, he goes on. “You guys don’t seem to be mourning the loss of them. In fact, your manager looked pretty enthusiastic about screwing them over with the whole festival thing. Did you guys have a falling out?” He narrows his eyes, playful. “Maybe something that made them drop you in the first place?”

“Not really,” Sehun says impassively. “I mean, I punched their drummer in the face this one time, but that was--”

“Sorry,” Luhan cuts him off, looking a little alarmed. “You did what?”

Sehun huffs out a breath. “I broke their drummer’s nose because he called us amateurs.”

Luhan hums, unimpressed. “He was a dick,” Sehun insists.

“But did he really deserve your fist in his face?” Luhan asks. “Just for that?”

“It made him shut up well enough,” Sehun says, crossing his arms on the countertop.

Luhan looks about to say something else but he stops himself, looking down at the counter instead. Their elbows almost brush where they’re both leaning on the bar. Sehun stares at the space between them until Luhan speaks up again. “You’re not gonna punch _our_ drummer in the face, are you? Baby Zitao?”

“Not unless he gives me a reason to,” Sehun answers.

Luhan snorts, shaking his head a little, and looks up to signal the bartender. He orders two more shots, downing one immediately but sliding the other across the counter to Sehun.

“I get that you’ve had to deal with some difficult people,” he says when Sehun looks up, “but I want you to know that we’re different. Lost Planet will have your back for as long as we’re working together.”

Sehun bites down on the urge to tell him how short he expects that time to be. He watches Luhan stand up, but looks away when he turns to face him.

“I hope we get the chance to show you,” Luhan says. He sounds like he’s smiling.

By the time Sehun lifts his head to check, Luhan is already across the room, joining Minseok and Kyungsoo on their way to the door. Sehun shakes his head and looks down at the shot glass still in front of him, not sure why he feels so thrown off. They were both well on their way to drunk anyway, he tells himself, and Luhan probably didn’t know what he was saying any more than Sehun did.

In the meantime, he does his best to block out Luhan’s words, throwing back the shot and focusing on the other end of the bar, where the girl from earlier has appeared again. It’s easy enough to move to that end and order a drink from there, offering one to her once he knows he’s caught her eye, then asking her to join him in a booth instead. Even easier after that to get her to lean in close enough for him to brush his lips over her neck.

He stutters a little when he looks into her eyes up close, taking in her long lashes and sharp lines of makeup and remembering how Luhan’s eyes had been rimmed in black the same way earlier. He’s not sure where the thought comes from, it just pops up unbidden and then won’t go away, so Sehun kisses her to mute it. This way, he won’t have to look.

He gets halfway into her shirt, and her halfway into his jeans, before the bar starts closing. Sehun puts his arm around her as the two of them leave, uncaring of the rest of the late-night patrons as he teases the thin strap of her shirt. She pushes him away, giggling, when they reach the sidewalk. Sehun takes the opportunity to pause, letting the cold night air floods into his chest.

It feels nice, after spending the day in crowded spaces like the venue and the club, like filtering his lungs but also his mind, and all that both parts have taken in over the day. The simple but much-needed cleanse leaves him a lot calmer, but also suddenly and sorely exhausted.

The girl slides her hands up to his shoulders and leans in, but she’s frowning, biting her lip. Sehun wonders for a moment if she feels it too, but kisses her anyway.

She breaks it first. They each let out one more breath in each other’s space before she pulls back, and Sehun lets her go.

\--

It’s late when Sehun finally gets home. He kicks off his shoes by the door and shuffles down the hall, eager to fall into bed and forget about everything until the morning.

A light in the living room is still on when he walks past, and he peeks in to see Baekhyun curled up on one end of the couch, staring blankly at the muted TV across from him. One hand is raised to his mouth, absently brushing his fingertips across his lips.

He looks up when Sehun steps into the room, giving him a tired sort of smile. “Hey. Back already?”

“Yeah,” Sehun replies after a moment. His mouth feels weird, tingly. He should probably brush his teeth.

“Where’s that girl you were with?” Baekhyun asks, peering around Sehun like he might be hiding her in his coat. “The one with the - the amazing tits, what happened to her?”

“I got her a cab,” Sehun says flatly. “Where’s your boyfriend?”

Baekhyun seems startled by the question, but recovers a second later and narrows his eyes. “I think you drank too much,” he says stiffly.

“Probably,” Sehun agrees. There’s a wobble in his legs that’s either from intoxication or exhaustion, he’s not sure which.

He leaves Baekhyun alone again while he stumbles through his night-time routine, and by the time he’s properly ready for sleep both the TV and the living room light are off. There’s something about it that is worth thinking about, Sehun knows, but his mind is too cloudy to think much about anything beyond crawling under his blankets and closing his eyes.

After a brief wish against morning ashtray-mouth, he falls asleep. He dreams of people dancing, of laughter too far away to put a name to, and of sparkling eyes outlined in black.

\--

Black Pearl’s last week before the music festival is full of preparations and rehearsals, readying themselves for both the journey and the performance. They all know it’s necessary, but that doesn’t make it any less tiring, and when Junmyeon tells them the day before they leave is for resting up, Sehun is prepared to take the longest nap of his life.

Or, he is, until he sees Jongin slipping his shoes on by the door, and demands to know why he isn’t already asleep. It turns out, Jongin tells him cheerily, that Lost Planet have been doing some last-minute preparations themselves, and one of them is the short open mic slot at a local cafe that Yixing and Luhan are going to perform at. Jongin is going to watch, of course, because he’s a supportive friend like that. Sehun decides to tag along.

He’s not entirely sure why; he still thinks longingly of his bed as they walk down the street, but he supposes it’s worth it to spend some time with Jongin. Lately the whole band has been together all day every day, so going out just the two of them is a welcome change.

The downside is that, as soon as he’s alone with Jongin, Sehun immediately starts to think of what Luhan had told him at the bar. Recently all of their conversations have somehow come back to Lost Planet or to Luhan in particular, and it’s constantly on the tip of Sehun’s tongue to ask Jongin about his past with him.

Like right now, only a couple blocks away from the cafe. Unable to hold in his curiosity, Sehun steers his thoughts away from words like _ex-boyfriend_ and tries for something that sounds a little more innocent. “So… how do you know Luhan, anyway?”

“We had a band together, if you can believe it,” Jongin laughs. “It was kind of brief, though. Luhan left Korea after high school, so we had to disband. We still stayed in touch afterwards, sent each other music and stuff… Oh, that reminds me,” he says suddenly, turning to Sehun with a grin. “I have copies of Lost Planet’s first few EPs, if you want to listen? They’re even signed, because Luhan is a moron like that.”

“Sure,” Sehun says, hoping he sounds it more than he feels it. Jongin beams.

There’s a long pause that Sehun is pretty sure he should fill with something, but part of him is waiting for Jongin to continue, to throw something in like ‘ _oh yeah, we also dated_ ’, but he just goes on smiling instead, completely oblivious. They reach the cafe before Sehun can break the silence, and he decides to just keep his mouth shut as Jongin eagerly pulls him inside.

There’s a decent crowd for such a small shop, so they stand near the back with a clear view over the other spectators’ heads of the makeshift stage. Luhan and Yixing have a stool each, with two microphones on stands in front. Luhan is adjusting Yixing’s when he looks up and spots them, and gives them a small but excited wave. Sehun takes in the bright smile on his face and immediately forgets what he had just been talking about. After a few more minutes of fumbling with microphones, Luhan gives a short introduction and Yixing starts to play. A hush settles over everyone watching, Jongin and Sehun included.

Their set is nice, Sehun grudgingly admits. Indie music is still weird and definitely not his favourite, but Luhan’s voice is… nice. He sings every song in Mandarin and while Sehun can’t understand a word of it, he can tell it flows easier. The foreign words wash over him in Luhan’s sweet tone and Sehun concedes, with some tiny part of himself, that he’s glad he came to listen.

Walking home later, he tunes out Jongin’s gushing about the set and looks up at the darkening sky, breathing in the night air. It feels like a reprieve before something shifts - and, he supposes, not without good reason: this time tomorrow, Black Pearl will be at Pentaport to play for one of their biggest-ever crowds.

Lost Planet will be there too, Sehun reminds himself, but he’s not sure how to feel about that, not anymore. Their show together went well, better than he was expecting. His original worries turned out to be unnecessary, and he can’t deny that both bands get along well - not even just the other Black Pearl members, but himself included.

Things could change, though. Sehun still feels a little uneasy, and he still worries that if they rely on this band and something goes wrong, the aftermath will mostly affect Black Pearl. He trusted Chaser once, and that already came back to bite him.

Even with all this swirling in his head, there’s still something in the back of his mind trying to be reassuring. Maybe it’ll be nice to have another band at the festival with them, a group they can count on. Maybe, after all this, Black Pearl will benefit from having Lost Planet around.

And maybe along the way, he can find out if Luhan annoys him or not - he can’t decide on that, either.

\--

The drive to the festival site, even with traffic, doesn’t end up being terribly long, but the anticipation building in Sehun’s chest makes the few hours in the car almost unbearable. He jumps out of the car as soon as Junmyeon pulls into the hotel parking lot, followed closely by Jongin, who had somehow managed to stay awake for the whole ride.

Chanyeol’s car pulls in next to them and Baekhyun steps out, stretching his arms out before looking up at the hotel skeptically. “You made sure this place has enough rooms, right?” he asks.

“I triple-checked,” Junmyeon says. “If they don’t, we’re only here for three nights. I’m sure you guys can survive sharing beds with each other.”

“Easy for you to say,” Baekhyun huffs. “We’re all in two-person rooms, and you got a single for yourself.”

“It was more convenient,” Junmyeon insists, and starts walking towards the hotel doors with Jongin and a whining Baekhyun in tow.

Sehun hangs back, waiting for Chanyeol to get out of his car. The driver-side door opens but so does the passenger door behind it, and Chanyeol steps out of the front at the same time that Luhan climbs out of the backseat. He smiles at Sehun in greeting, and for once Sehun doesn’t feel the need to frown in return.

The impromptu carpool had been decided earlier that morning when Minseok’s car ended up having one less working seat than expected, and Chanyeol had offered to take Luhan along. The two bands were already sharing the equipment truck and staying in the same hotel, so it wasn’t much of a stretch.

“Excited yet?” Luhan asks as he shuts his door.

“I think so,” Sehun answers slowly. “It probably wont hit me for real until I’m actually on stage.”

“You have some time to build up to it, then,” Luhan laughs. “There’s still a few hours left in day one, and then all of day two to get through tomorrow before you’re even allowed to set up. Plus, you have to watch Lost Planet’s entire performance first.”

Sehun grimaces. “I _have_ to?”

“Yes you do,” Luhan says, smacking his arm lightly. “We’re here to support each other, aren’t we?”

“We are,” Chanyeol agrees, locking the car doors and starting towards the hotel. “Don’t worry about Sehun, he’ll get it eventually. For now, you have the rest of us!” He pauses, looking back at the parking lot. “Or at least, you will once the rest of your band gets here?”

Luhan pats his shoulder with a smile and follows him to the front doors, and Sehun, trailing behind them, tries his best not to smile.

All their room reservations are under Junmyeon’s name, so getting room keys is easy enough - helped by the fact that there’s barely anyone else around, since the first festival performances started a couple hours ago. Sehun and Jongin’s room is nice enough, two beds and a bathroom and enough floor space for it to not seem cramped. After dropping his bag on the ground and unzipping it, Sehun deems himself unpacked and looks to claim one of the beds, but Jongin is already curled up on the one closest to the window, asleep. Sehun rolls his eyes, but makes sure to close the door quietly before he goes back down to the lobby to regroup with the others.

They’re examining the festival schedule pinned up on the wall when the rest of Lost Planet arrives, striding through the doors with a tired cheer.

“Sorry we’re a bit late,” Jongdae sighs. “Yixing can’t read maps.”

“That’s okay,” Chanyeol assures him. “We haven't really done anything--”

“Go get your rooms sorted, hurry,” Baekhyun cuts him off, waving Jongdae and the others away. “We wanna go watch stuff ASAP.”

“We can go down to the grounds together, once you’re ready,” Junmyeon says, smiling at Jongdae, but he gets a raised eyebrow in return.

“Are _you_ ready?” Jongdae asks, looking him up and down.

Junmyeon frowns. “Yes...?”

Jongdae stares pointedly at Junmyeon’s blazer and dress shirt. “Maybe for a business meeting. Please tell me you’re not going to walk around like this for three whole days.”

“I’m not,” Junmyeon says indignantly, his ears turning a bit red.

“Show me your suitcase, then,” Jongdae demands, grabbing his sleeve and leading the way down the hall to the elevator. “I need to make sure you packed more than button-downs and ironed slacks.”

“You guys can go on ahead,” Minseok says to Baekhyun as he passes by. “We’ll meet up with you a bit later closer to the actual festival grounds, yeah?”

“Sounds good,” Baekhyun says, and latches onto Chanyeol’s arm. He looks over at Sehun and Luhan, the only others left in the lobby. “You guys coming?”

“Uh.” Sehun isn’t really sure if he wants to hang out around massive crowds of people just yet. “I’m gonna check on Jongin. I might go down later.”

“I’ll come with you,” Luhan says quickly, taking a step closer to Sehun. Sehun gives him a strange look but Baekhyun seems unfazed, turning to Chanyeol with a shrug before the two of them skip out through the doors.

Luhan sighs in relief. “You can’t leave me alone with them again,” he says seriously as they start towards the elevator.

Sehun smirks, punching the call button. “Was the drive here that bad?”

“They’re ridiculous,” Luhan groans. “I had to keep myself from yelling at Chanyeol to keep his eyes on the road ‘cause he kept looking over to watch Baekhyun speak, or laugh, or do _anything at all_.” The elevator doors slide open and they step inside, Sehun trying to hide his smile as he selects their floor. “Plus,” Luhan goes on, “their inside jokes make _no_ sense - or is that just me?”

“You’ll get used to it,” Sehun assures him, but Luhan doesn’t look convinced.

“ _You_ can ride with them on the way back, then,” he grumbles.

The elevator dings and they step out into the hall, pausing there. Sehun’s room is on one end of the floor, and around the corner is Luhan’s, closer to the other Lost Planet rooms.

“Are you really gonna go check on Jongin?” Luhan asks, breaking the silence.

“If I do, are you really gonna come with me?” Sehun shoots back.

Luhan sticks his tongue out at him. “Not anymore, I’m not.”

“Just as well,” Sehun sighs, leaning back against the wall. “I don’t wanna go bug him if he’s trying to sleep.”

“Jongin isn’t really the type to need check-ins,” Luhan agrees, then pauses, slowly turning to look at Sehun. “You know who might be, though?”

Sehun raises an eyebrow.

“Your manager.”

“Junmyeon?” Sehun snorts. “He’s with Jongdae, isn’t he?”

Luhan gives him a pointed look. “He’s been _alone_ with Jongdae for a while now.”

“It’s only been a few minutes.”

“Jongdae can do a _lot_ in a few minutes.”

Sehun tries his best to keep from laughing. “We’d better check on him, then.”

The two of them slink down the hall to Junmyeon’s room, Luhan sidling along the walls like a spy and making Sehun struggle to keep his expression serious. When they reach the door Luhan wastes no time raising a fist to knock, but Sehun grabs his arm.

“Hold on, listen.” He looks at the door, straining to hear something, but there’s no sound coming from inside. It makes Sehun worry a little - didn’t Jongdae bring Junmyeon upstairs to discuss clothes or something?

He drops Luhan’s arm and moves a little closer to the door. “Junmyeon,” he calls hesitantly, knocking lightly on the wood.

The door swings open a little bit - it must not have closed properly when Junmyeon went inside, which means that he’s still there. Relieved, Sehun pushes the door open wider so both he and Luhan, hovering by his shoulder, can see inside.

“Hey, Junmyeon, we’re--”

They both stop before they even enter the room, frozen in place in the doorway and staring at the bed on one side. Junmyeon is there, which is good, but so is Jongdae. They both turn to look when the door opens, their mouths breaking apart with a wet sound. Sehun is pretty sure, from the way Jongdae is sitting across Junmyeon’s lap, that they were definitely not discussing clothes.

“Hi,” Junmyeon says. He’s breathing a little heavily and one of his hands is paused halfway up the back of Jongdae’s shirt. “Do you need something?”

“We, uh.” Sehun swallows thickly. “We were just. Wondering how you’re doing.”

For a moment Junmyeon looks like he’s actually going to answer, but when Jongdae turns to face him again he opts for staring back up at him instead, his lips parting a little.

“We can come back later,” Luhan suggests weakly.

“Yeah, do that,” Junmyeon says absently, leaning in towards Jongdae again, and Sehun can tell he isn’t listening anymore.

He reaches out and closes the door before they can see any more, making sure the latch actually clicks this time, then turns to look at Luhan. Luhan stares back at him with an almost comically blank expression. Then a low, muffled moan filters through the door. Luhan shrieks a little before scurrying away, and Sehun follows, choking on a laugh.

They both end up giggling uncontrollably as they trip down the hallway, back to the elevator and the middle point between their rooms, and pause there to catch their breath. Sehun tries to focus on Luhan doubled over in front of him instead of the image seared on his eyelids.

“I should’ve let you knock first,” he says in between deep breaths.

Luhan straightens up and leans back against the wall, eyes squeezed shut. “That is not something I wanted to see. Ever.”

“Or hear, christ.”

“I’m gonna go sit in my room and blast something to cleanse my ears.” He glances up at Sehun. “You’re welcome to join, if you want.”

Sehun pictures sitting on Luhan’s bed with him, close enough that they can share earphones, watching Luhan’s face as he tells him about each song he puts on. “And subject myself to your terrible music choices?” he scoffs. “No thanks.”

Luhan pouts. “How do you know my music is terrible? You probably haven’t even heard any of it before.”

“I don’t think I want to,” Sehun says.

“Don’t be so quick to judge,” Luhan huffs, poking him hard in the ribs. “I’ll have you know some of my favourite bands are playing at this very festival, same as you.”

Sehun has to admit that’s a little surprising. “Really? Who?”

“Come down to the grounds with me tomorrow and I’ll show you,” Luhan says, smirking at him. “If after watching them play you still think they’re terrible, I’ll accept your opinion.”

“Deal,” Sehun says.

Luhan grins triumphantly. “You’re gonna be so annoyed when you figure out how wrong you were.”

“We’ll see about that,” Sehun hums, trying to glare at him, but he feels himself smiling instead. “Don’t you have ears to cleanse?”

Luhan makes a face. “Ugh. I almost forgot.”

“You’re welcome,” Sehun laughs. Luhan glares at him playfully before he disappears around the corner, and Sehun turns the other way to make his way back to his own room.

He tries to be quiet as he slips inside, but the lump of blankets on the far bed shifts when the door clicks shut, and after some rustling, Jongin’s face appears. “Hey,” he greets sleepily.

“Hey, sorry,” Sehun says. “Did I wake you up?”

Jongin shakes his head, smiling. “I heard you laughing. Were you with Luhan?”

Sehun feels his face getting a little warm. “Yeah, we, uh. We made plans for tomorrow.” He swallows. “You could probably come with us…?”

“That’s okay,” Jongin says, rolling over. “I think Kyungsoo and I are gonna hole up in here for the day. Have a bass sectional, or something.”

Sehun feels more relieved than he’d like to admit. “Sounds good,” he says, sitting down on the edge of the other bed. “I’m glad you won’t be alone while I’m out doing stuff with your BFF.”

Jongin laughs. “It’s alright, I’m just happy you two are getting along.” Getting along is one way to put it, Sehun supposes. “Besides, we’ve known each other so long, we don’t need to hang out all the time to stay connected.”

Frowning, Sehun looks down at the floor. There’s that thought again, of what Luhan had told him at the bar weeks ago, of what exactly that connection used to be. Sehun had thought it would stop popping up when his mind was on other things, like the festival - but here it is, burning on his tongue.

“Have you always been such good friends?” he asks, the tamest lead-in he can manage. “Or were you ever… something else?”

Jongin rolls over to stare at him, and from the look on his face, Sehun knows Jongin can read him like a book. “Did Luhan tell you about that?” he asks, and Sehun nods, feeling sheepish. Should he not have brought it up?

“Well.” Jongin shrugs. “Yeah, that happened.”

“I don’t have a problem with it,” Sehun says quickly, “I just--”

“It’s okay,” Jongin laughs. “You’re my best friend, you’re allowed to know. I didn’t bring it up cause it was so long ago, I didn’t think it mattered.”

Sehun bites his lip. “So… you two aren’t--”

“We’re past it,” Jongin assures him. “We’re just friends. I don’t have, like, a claim over him or anything.”

Sehun sits up straighter, cheeks warm. “So what if you did? I wasn’t asking about - about _that_.”

Jongin blinks at him. “Oh. But I thought you…” he trails off when Sehun frowns at him, then looks away. “Nevermind.”

They both go quiet for a while, and eventually Sehun hears Jongin’s breathing even out and knows he’s fallen back asleep. He flops down on his own bed, staring at the ceiling, and tries not to think about what Jongin had meant.

Maybe he should just sleep, he supposes. It’d keep his mind away from thoughts he doesn’t want to have. Besides, he tells himself as he closes his eyes, with his and Luhan’s plans for the next day, he probably needs as much rest as he can get.

\--

Day two begins calmly enough, but after breakfast - during which Sehun seems to be the only person who notices Junmyeon and Jongdae blatantly staring at each other - Sehun finds himself being half-dragged to the festival grounds by Luhan, who seems way too enthusiastic for how early in the day it is.

“It’s two in the afternoon,” Luhan laughs, when he tells him this.

“The sun is up,” Sehun grumbles. “It’s early.”

They wander around a little, flitting between the three stages to see bits and pieces of different shows. The Pentaport stage is for more well-known bands, even some Sehun likes. But of course, the acts that Luhan really wants to see are on the smaller Dream and Moonlight stages, and are bands Sehun has never heard of - like Beautiful Killer, a metal band with a vampire concept, and N.O, a pop-punk boyband with members that look so young it makes Sehun a little uncomfortable.

Luhan’s very favourite band, though, is a jazz duo called Spellbound. He insists that they watch their whole performance from start to finish and Sehun, in a moment of apparent insanity, agrees to it, sits in the grass next to Luhan and watches these two guys on the stage do their thing. They aren’t _bad_ , per se, but they aren’t very good, either, at least not to Sehun’s ears. Luhan clearly thinks otherwise, and has a smile on his face for the whole set - not that Sehun looks over at him quite often enough to know for sure, but he can guess.

“I was right,” Sehun tells him afterwards, when they’re walking away from the Dream stage. “Your taste is terrible.”

“You’re lying,” Luhan scoffs. “Don’t expect me to believe that you hated that entire performance. I saw you tapping your feet at least twice.”

Sehun makes a face. “Maybe I have restless leg syndrome.”

Luhan rolls his eyes, and Sehun laughs. “I just don’t get it,” he says. “You sound so good, but your taste in music is so _awful_.”

Luhan raises an eyebrow. “You think I sound good?”

“Well,” Sehun mumbles, trying to backtrack, “better than some of these bands, I mean, you guys are--”

He cuts off and abruptly stops walking, looking around at where they’ve ended up. “This is the Pentaport stage. What are we doing here?”

“There’s one more band I want to see,” Luhan says, shrugging like it’s not a big deal. “I think you’ve actually heard of this one, though. They’re pretty popular. Baekhyun told me you’re a fan.”

“Why would _you_ want to see a band that _I_ like?” Sehun asks slowly, eyes narrowing.

Luhan shrugs again. “A lot of the bands from today you only watched because I liked them. This is me returning the favour.”

Sehun doesn’t know what to say to that. He turns away to watch as a banner is unfurled above the stage, _RUN DEVIL RUN_ printed on it in bright pink letters.

“Thank you,” he says quietly, hoping he’s close enough to Luhan for him to hear it over the gathering crowd. Luhan just smiles and settles down on the grass, and when Sehun sits next to him their fingers almost brush. Sehun makes himself focus on the stage instead.

\--

In his hotel room that night, Sehun sits on his bed with his guitar, strumming absentmindedly as his thoughts drift. More than once he ends up fixated on something that had happened while wandering with Luhan, or just Luhan himself. He’s actually pretty great, Sehun lets himself admit. Hes funny when he’s not making jokes about Sehun, he has an opinion about everything, and he looked so captivated while watching his favourites perform. Even if the music didn’t sound so good to Sehun, Luhan made it look like he was seeing something more than just a band on a stage.

During Run Devil Run he had actually gotten up to dance with the rest of the crowd, which Sehun thought was ridiculous until he really watched Luhan move. Something made him stand out from everyone else, maybe the easy grin on his face or the swing of his hips to the beat - or maybe Luhan didn’t need to be on stage to constantly hold Sehun’s attention.

The one thing Sehun is sure of, through all the uncertainty, is that their eyes had locked when Luhan had pulled him up to dance with him during the encore, and neither of them looked away until the stage lights went out.

The bathroom door swings open, snapping Sehun out of his thoughts as Jongin steps out with a towel around his waist. He pauses halfway to his bed and looks over at Sehun. “What are you playing?”

Sehun looks down at his fingers poised on the guitar strings, almost surprised to see them there. “Uh, it’s just--”

It’s just the chorus riff from one of Spellbound’s songs, he realizes. The one Luhan mouthed all the words to.

“It’s nothing,” he says quickly. It’s a sign he’s in too deep - into what, he isn’t quite sure.

\--

Both bands are set to take the Dream stage on the third day, Lost Planet one spot before Black Pearl. Since performances don’t start until the afternoon, they have some time in the morning for a soundcheck before the first band of the day goes on.

Sehun doesn’t get a chance to speak with Luhan before Lost Planet’s turn, so he watches from sidestage as they go through their set, eager for them to finish. There should be at least a couple minutes between their soundcheck and Black Pearl’s, which is enough time for Sehun to ask Luhan for a word - he doesn’t have a clue what he’s going to say, but maybe having even just some small-talk with Luhan will clear out the weird things going through his mind. In the meantime, he waits and tries to look like he’s supposed to be there, instead of in the performers’ tent with the rest of his band.

He keeps catching himself staring at Luhan and dragging his eyes away, only for them to wander right back. A few times, something like annoyance bubbles up when Luhan wanders across the stage to stand beside Yixing, or to whisper something to him in between songs, or to do that back-to-back move that Sehun saw them do weeks ago - although, that time didn’t irritate him half as much as this does, and Sehun isn’t quite sure why.

Even when their soundcheck finishes, Luhan and Yixing end it laughing together, and it makes Sehun’s stomach twist. As soon as Yixing hops off the stage, Sehun steps up onto it, not really knowing what he’s doing until he comes to stand beside Luhan as he takes a mic stand apart.

“Hey,” Luhan greets. “Were you watching?”

“Yeah,” Sehun says, a little stiffly.

“The real thing will be better,” Luhan tells him. “Soundcheck doesn’t give the right feel, with all the starting and stopping.”

Sehun hums in agreement, and then, because Luhan does something to his curiosity that makes it impossible to ignore, opens his mouth again. “Is there something between you and Yixing?”

Luhan looks up at him, brows furrowed. “Is there--what, you mean like a _thing_? Boyfriends?”

After a moment of hesitation, Sehun nods and looks away, hoping it hides the blush rising in his cheeks.

“We’re not dating,” Luhan laughs. “I mean, he’s pretty dreamy, I’ll admit. And I’m sure he’s got talented fingers, if you know what I mean-” He wiggles his eyebrows, and Sehun pretends not to see- “but he’s not my type.”

“Was Jongin your type?”

He doesn’t really mean to say it, but there’s no way to take it back once he does, so Sehun fights the urge to look away again as Luhan blinks in surprise. He recovers quickly enough, covering it with another laugh that sounds a little shakier than the first.

“Maybe he was,” he says, meeting Sehun’s stare, “but I don’t know if bass players really do it for me anymore.”

Sehun can’t tell if it’s a joke or not, or if he’s trying to make Sehun rise to some sort of bait, or if the look on his eyes is amusement or something else.

Before he can figure it out, Jongdae is calling Luhan off the stage so Black Pearl can warm up. The rest of the morning passes without an opportunity for Sehun to get him alone, and then day three performances are starting and the two bands are separated.

Lost Planet takes the stage in the middle of the afternoon, and Chanyeol drags the rest of Black Pearl away from the performers’ tent to stand in the crowd and yell as they come on. Sehun is actually excited to watch them, as weird as that is to admit to himself. While he had observed some of their performance at the show they did together, he had missed the opening of their set - and peeking out from sidestage didn’t really have the same effect as seeing them from within the audience, anyway.

Luhan waves at the crowd with a grin before he nods to Zitao and the count-in starts, and the first thrum of bass and synth sends shivers down Sehun’s spine. It’s not until Luhan picks up his mic, though, that Sehun recognizes the song. It’s one he and Yixing had performed at the cafe - granted, it had been slower and acoustic then, but Sehun remembers the way Luhan’s voice had sounded even if he didn’t understand the words.

This is different from both the cafe and the gig before that, though. Luhan’s voice rings out louder than the noise of the crowd and Sehun feels something swell in his chest - pride, maybe, for the band on stage with the crowd screaming back at them, and then a sudden staggering wave of affection for the boy singing over it all.

It’s still there an hour later when Lost Planet takes their final bow. Sehun tries his best to breathe around it as he follows his bandmates back to the tent, and busies himself with his guitar case as he waits for it to dissipate. It doesn’t, though, not when it’s all he can think about, so he catches Jongin’s arm and pulls him into a corner. “Can I ask you something?”

“Your face is all red,” Jongin says, looking at him with concern. “Are you alright? Did something happen in the crowd?”

“No,” Sehun says quickly, batting his hand away when he tries to feel his forehead.

Jongin narrows his eyes at him. “We go on next. If something’s wrong, you have to say so right now.”

“Nothing’s wrong!” Sehun insists. “Look, just-- when you were with Luhan, what did it feel like?”

Jongin gives him a weird look. “What does that have to do with the festival?”

“It doesn’t. Just answer the question.”

“I don’t know if I can,” Jongin sighs. “It was years ago, we’re both different people now. I can’t explain a feeling I don’t have anymore-- and why do you even want to know?”

“Nevermind,” Sehun mumbles, turning away. “Don’t worry about it.”

Jongin grabs his hand before he can leave. “Are you and Luhan--”

“I said,” Sehun cuts him off, “don’t worry about it. It’s _nothing_.” Jongin doesn’t let him go, though, and Sehun can feel his gaze boring into the side of his head.

“Listen,” Jongin says quietly. “If there was someone, anyone, that you… felt something for. That would be okay. You know that, right?” He squeezes Sehun’s hand. “It’s okay to have feelings for someone, even if you don’t know what to do with those feelings right now.”

He’s smiling when Sehun glances up at him, but before he can respond, Junmyeon appears by the door to to give them a fifteen minute warning. They pull away from each other in the rush to organize instruments and mics and monitors, but Jongin manages to give him one last reassuring look before they start towards the stage.

Sehun mulls over his words in the few seconds he spends walking up the steps to the stage platform. It seems too simple to just say it’s all fine and expect himself to deal with feelings like this that overwhelm him. It’s almost funny, he thinks as he steps over to his spot beside Baekhyun - he can handle speakers turned up to eleven and crowds of people screaming at him, but trying to figure out what one single person does to his insides is too much.

He doesn’t want that. He wants to be able to face this, like everything else, not cower from it. He looks out at the crowd and lets the noise sink in, focusing on that and the guitar in his hands.

Jongin breaks his focus though, nudging him and pointing into the crowd with a grin. Sehun follows his gaze to a group standing near the front. Lost Planet is there, waving up at the stage with wide smiles, all of them looking like they had dropped their instruments sidestage and ripped their monitors off as fast as possible to get there in time - which probably isn’t far from whatever they actually did. It’s a good feeling, Sehun discovers, looking out and seeing them there. His eyes automatically find Luhan, easily picking out his honey-hair in the mass of people, and he feels himself smiling as Luhan beams up at him.

He has to look away when Chanyeol starts counting in, but he gives himself one last moment, before the first beat, to hope that Luhan will watch him on stage and feel what he felt watching Luhan.

Then he shuts it off, disconnects from everything but the stage wavelength and the three boys on it with him, takes a breath and plays his first notes.

\--

There’s one more band to go on the Dream stage after Black Pearl, and then the only performance left is the second headliner, Lucifer, on the Pentaport stage a little later that night. There’s really nothing left for Black Pearl to do, then, with their performance over and the festival nearing its end. While the others head back to the hotel, Sehun opts to flop down in the grass near the edge of the audience, still buzzing from the stage.

The band performing on the other end has a sort of slow-jam style, and Sehun is far enough away that the sound doesn’t disturb him as he watches the sky get darker. What does disturb him is, of course, Luhan appearing next to him and stretching out in the grass as well.

He makes more noise than is probably necessary while he shifts around to get comfortable. “How are you feeling?” he asks, smiling up at Sehun.

Sehun almost scowls at him, almost replies something like _great, until you showed up_ , but it feels too heavy on his tongue. It’s a lie, anyway.

“I feel good,” he says instead, and means it. Luhan hums approvingly, settling in beside him. Sehun takes one look at him and feels more words bubbling up, suddenly unable to keep them in.

“I’m… glad we had Lost Planet here with us,” he says a little haltingly. “I keep trying to imagine what it would’ve been like with Chaser, and… this is better.”

Luhan sits up a little, smiling again. “What are you trying to say?”

“Thank you, I guess?” Sehun tries. “For being here instead of them. For... getting along with us. With _me_.”

Sighing, Luhan flops back down. “Sounds like that doesn’t happen too often.”

“It really doesn’t,” Sehun says. “Most of the other bands we’ve tried to work with ended up getting into fights.”

“With you?” Luhan asks. Sehun nods. “About what?”

“A lot of things,” Sehun sighs. “They’d... talk down to us, or shit talk the others behind their backs, or try to get me to join in with trashing my own band--” He cuts off, shaking his head. “I don’t want to have to rely on people like that to make it big, or whatever. I don’t want to rely on anyone.”

He sits up, looking at the sky again. “Black Pearl is-- I care too much to let another band’s fuck-up affect us.”

“What’s wrong with relying on people?” Luhan asks, wrinkling his nose as he sits up beside him. “You can’t be completely alone.”

Sehun smiles wryly. “I can try.”

Luhan frowns at him. “Do you really want that, though? What about your members, they’re relying on you right now. It’s not a bad thing to need them just as much.”

“I guess,” Sehun sighs, looking down at the grass in his lap. “It’s just. It’s hard to admit stuff like that. As soon as it’s out there it can come crashing down.”

Luhan rolls his eyes. “So you’re worried they’re gonna find out you care and then- what? What are you so scared of?”

“I’m not _scared_ ,” Sehun huffs, irritated now. “Look, there’s a million things that could go wrong, so I’m just not going to bring this up, okay?”

Luhan glares at him. “You’re being an idiot. You say you care so much, but you purposefully cut yourself off.”

“So what,” Sehun snaps back at him. “I haven’t said anything about this before, and we’ve been fine.”

“You could be _better_ , though,” Luhan presses. “If you told them how you feel--”

“I’m not going to,” Sehun says over him. “If it could be better, it could just as easily be worse. I’m not going to risk changing things like that when we’re completely fine how we are.”

Luhan growls in frustration and stands up, hands fisted by his sides. “You’re a coward, then,” he bites out. “Awesome. I hope reality never comes anywhere near your perfect scenario.”

Sehun glares up at him. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Things change, Sehun,” Luhan says, exasperated. “There’s nothing you can do about that. You have to make an effort for yourself and the people you care about, before you can’t anymore.”

Sehun opens his mouth to respond but ends up just closing it again, finding Luhan’s words more confusing than anything. It doesn’t sound like they’re even having the same conversation. Before he can wrap his head around it Luhan spins on his heel and stalks off, leaving Sehun alone.

Sehun flops back in the grass with a huff, trying to cling to his anger, but the feeling bleeds out of him and all he can come up with is the urge to sit up and call Luhan back.

He stays in the grass for a while, long enough for the sky to darken the rest of the way, then gets up and starts to slowly make his way back to the hotel. He passes a group of people on the way, and even though he tries to avoid them, one reaches out and grabs his arm, stopping him. Sehun looks up, ready to growl at whoever it is, but finds Baekhyun staring back at him.

“You okay?” he asks. Behind him, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo and Minseok all look a little worried.

“I’m fine,” Sehun says quickly, pulling away.

“You’re heading back already?” Chanyeol frowns. “You’ll miss out.”

As hard as Sehun tries to resists, something in Chanyeol’s voice makes him pause and turn back around. “Miss out on what?”

“Lucifer,” Minseok says with a grin. “You know, the electro-rock-turned-trance headliner? Everyone’s been buzzing about them since the festival lineup was announced.”

“They’re the last performance of the night,” Kyungsoo explains. “We aren’t leaving until tomorrow morning, so we’re going down to watch.”

“It’s gonna be awesome,” Baekhyun says. “Wanna come?”

Surrounding himself with loud festival-goers and louder music seems like as good a way as any to get his mind off things, so Sehun follows the group back to the audience area. There’s already a mass of people gathered in front of the Pentaport stage even though the last show doesn’t start for at least half an hour. By the time Sehun starts to consider leaving again, he finds their group is boxed-in by the growing crowd. He doesn’t realize he’s fidgeting until Baekhyun grabs his hand and pulls it away from the hem of his shirt.

“Here,” he says, pressing something small into Sehun’s palm and closing his fingers over it. Sehun uncurls them just enough to see the tiny blue pill resting there, and gives Baekhyun an unimpressed look.

“What is this?”

“Part of the authentic festival experience,” Baekhyun says airily. “Look, it’s not even that much compared to what I’ve seen some guys taking.” He nudges Sehun in the side. “It’s just to make you feel good, okay? You seem down, and this’ll pick you up.”

“The others’ll be down in a bit,” Chanyeol announces, squinting at his phone. “Except... Jongdae says he and Junmyeon are taking the night off to unwind.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “Oh please, they’ve been _unwinding_ since we got here.”

The others snicker, and even Sehun feels a smile tugging at his lips. There’s no reason he shouldn’t want to feel good, he decides, especially after the emotional whiplash of the night he’s had. He doesn’t want to be upset anymore, and so he won’t be.

He stands up a little straighter, watching the crowd get even bigger as they wait for the lights to come on, and lets the pill dissolve on his tongue.

\--

Lucifer’s sound is everything it was hyped up to be. Sehun feels each beat reverberating around him, feels the roar of the crowd down to his toes. Every light on stage is overflowing, effect lasers flaring out and painting stripes and shapes across him. It feels freeing.

He’s not sure if it’s the peak of the drugs or just the sensation of being part of a live performance. Maybe both? Either way, he feels great. He can remember being upset before, but can’t recall what it felt like, too distracted by how good _now_ is.

Beside him, Baekhyun looks completely blissed out, like the stage lights have filled him up. The way Chanyeol is looking at him assures Sehun that he thinks so too, except Chanyeol’s hand is on his wrist and Sehun wonders which is better - feeling the sound and light around him or feeling someone else be that close.

He looks away from them, back towards the stage and all the light there, but something else catches his attention: a boy, dancing a few feet away. It takes him a moment to realize it’s Luhan, but he’s already reaching out to him before he’s sure, catching his hand in the crowd and pulling him in like it’s a reflex.

Luhan’s pupils are blown wide when he turns around and he immediately latches onto Sehun’s hand, pressing himself against his side. Sehun suddenly can’t remember why he was angry at him earlier - was he even angry at all? He can’t call up the feeling. He knows it’s probably the drug, but feeling so amazing can’t be a bad thing, and having Luhan touching him feels _really amazing_.

Sehun leans closer, catching Luhan’s wide-eyed gaze. “Did you take--?”

“From Baekhyun,” Luhan cuts him off, his tone breathy. “Yeah.”

He’s glad Luhan feels as good as he does. He wants everyone to feel it, wants Luhan to know how incredible their hands feel pressed together. He slides his palm up Luhan’s arm, and in return Luhan’s other hand paws at the hem of his shirt, ghosting over his skin.

Sehun doesn’t know how long they’re in the crowd together, moving to the beat but also against each other, watching the lasers and stage lights reflected in their eyes. He’s pretty sure he registers a last-song warning, and the lights turning up brighter than ever, then Luhan’s hand on the side of his neck, turning his jaw so he faces him--

And suddenly they’re in Sehun’s hotel room, on his bed with no lights but still just as close. Sehun isn’t entirely sure how they got there, but Luhan is still with him, still touching him, and at the moment that’s enough.

He’s also not sure when he got hard but it’s happening, and as Luhan pushes him back against the pillows he can see that there’s a bulge in his jeans as well. It sends another rush of exhilaration through Sehun, and his cock throbs with it.

Their shirts come off and Luhan leans down, sprawling across him to lick and bite his way down Sehun’s chest. He stops just above the waist of his jeans and sucks on the skin there, nipping just a little, until Sehun pulls him back up and hauls him closer so Luhan is practically in his lap. He holds him there with his hands on Luhan’s hips and leans up to drag his teeth across his jaw.

He can feel Luhan fumbling with the zipper on his jeans, relishing the bit of relief that comes when it’s pulled down, and tightens his grip when Luhan’s hand brushes over his cock through his boxers. Luhan’s ragged breathing ghosts over his ear and hitches when Sehun shifts under him, jerking up against his hand.

With his free hand, Luhan grips Sehun’s shoulder while the other slides further into Sehun’s jeans, rubbing purposefully over his cock and making him groan. He palms him through his underwear until Sehun is almost writhing, unable to press up into the touch like wants with Luhan sitting across his lap. Luhan breathes a laugh at the frustrated noise he makes, then leans back down to mouth at one of the red marks on Sehun’s chest. His hand speeds up, pressing hard over the head of Sehun’s cock, and Sehun feels a pleasant heat building inside him already.

He moves one hand from Luhan’s hip to the front of his jeans and Luhan ruts up against it, gasping a little. He stops touching Sehun for a moment so he can shift closer, then rolls his hips forward, pressing their crotches together and making them both lose their breath. Luhan does it again and again, breathing hard and trying to press even closer, and Sehun pulls him in, sucking a mark onto the side of Luhan’s throat as they move together. Luhan loses his rhythm when he bites down and then can’t get it back, grinding against Sehun fast and hard and erratic until they both come. Sehun groans against his neck, and Luhan shudders with it.

Once he feels like he can breathe again, Sehun pulls back and runs his hand over the wet spot at the front of Luhan’s jeans, looking up and catching his gaze as he does. Luhan bites his lip and shifts his hips a little, like he’s not sure if he wants to press into the touch or away from it. With his other hand, Sehun reaches up to touch the mark he’d left on Luhan’s neck. The skin is hot under his fingers.

\--

The morning sunlight filtering through the window wakes Sehun up gently, but he only has a few blissful seconds of sleepy ignorance before he becomes aware enough to realize he feels terrible. His head pounds and his mouth tastes weird, and he feels tired enough to sleep for another year or two. He remembers most of the night before, but some spots are hazy. He certainly _feels_ like he got fucked up on whatever Baekhyun was giving out, but the rest…

Sehun almost thinks he dreamt it, until he tries to move and a certain sticky discomfort in his boxers makes itself very apparent. He manages to sit up and look around the room, searching for any other evidence that last night really happened. His shirt is on the floor, as are his pants, and when he catches sight of himself in the mirror above the dresser, he has to rub his eyes to make sure he’s seeing correctly.

His chest is littered with red marks, some lighter than others but some definitely almost teeth-shaped, and one just above the waistline of his boxers is faintly purple.

He figures it’s safe to say he didn’t dream up sleeping with Luhan. He’s not sure yet if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

There’s a knock on the door and Jongin walks in before Sehun can move much. He gives Sehun a once-over, eyebrows raised. “Wow, you look like shit.”

“Kinda feeling that way, too,” Sehun grunts. He takes in the fact that Jongin is clothed and showered and feels his stomach twist. “You didn’t… sleep in here, did you?”

“Definitely not,” Jongin laughs. “I crashed with Yixing.”

Sehun breathes an internal sigh of relief. “Ah. Okay.”

“Anyway, we’re packing the car soon,” Jongin tells him, “so get dressed and bring your stuff down to the lobby, alright?”

Sehun nods, watching him until he exits the room, then looks around once more. The only question left is where Luhan went, but Sehun thinks it would probably be better to handle that once he’s wearing clothes.

He showers and gets dressed before he packs up his things, still feeling incredibly tired and kind of dizzy. Baekhyun snickers at him when he stumbles out of the elevator, but his eyes are swollen from sleep just like Sehun’s, and beside him Chanyeol looks not much better, as well as a little irritated at the ceiling lights. Sehun flips him off and calls it good enough.

He takes his bag out to Junmyeon’s car, but is surprised to see Yixing’s suitcase resting by Chanyeol’s car instead of Luhan’s. Looking around for someone to ask about it, he spies Luhan bent over the trunk of Minseok’s car, and wanders over.

Luhan doesn’t seem to have noticed him, or if he has, he hasn’t acknowledged him at all. Sehun stops close enough to him that there’s no way he couldn’t notice, but Luhan doesn’t even look up at him.

Sehun coughs a little. “Hi.”

“Hey,” Luhan says, barely glancing up before he goes back to rummaging in the trunk. Something feels very off, but Sehun doesn’t know how to ask about it without it sounding weird.

“So… you’re not riding with Chanyeol and Baek on the way back?”

“I told you I wasn’t.”

“I… guess you did,” Sehun says weakly.

Luhan does look up at him then, but his expression is unpleasant. “Problem?”

“No, I just--” Sehun lets out a long breath. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Just fine,” Luhan says shortly, standing up straight and facing him. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Sehun splutters a little. “Well, I mean, I woke up and you were gone, I thought--”

“I just didn’t want to sleep there,” Luhan says over him.

Sehun furrows his brow. “You seemed okay with it last night.”

“I was fucked up on whatever Baek gave me, last night,” Luhan says slowly, eyes narrowing. “So were you.”

“That doesn’t mean I--”

“What’s your problem?” Luhan snaps suddenly. “Are you really so upset about where I woke up this morning?”

Sehun glares back at him. “We _slept together_.”

“We were both out of our minds,” Luhan says with a harsh laugh, and turns his head away.

Sehun’s eyes trail down the side of his neck and stop on the mark there, deep red from his own lips and teeth. “So, what, it didn’t count?”

“Did you want it to count?” Luhan shoots back. “Sex one time doesn’t meant anything. We both have other things to worry about.”

He turns back to the car and Sehun takes it to mean the conversation is over. He makes himself walk back to the hotel lobby, suddenly feeling more tired than he did when he woke up.

\--

Sehun spends the ride home avoiding Junmyeon’s concerned looks, staring resolutely out the window so he doesn’t see them out of the corner of his eye.

Part of him wishes that he had gone back and fought more, made Luhan see that he was wrong - but was he wrong? Should Sehun see things his way instead? Was the night before really just… nothing? He’s not sure if he wants it to have meant anything.

He thinks of having Luhan’s hands on him, of his mouth and his breath and his body all so close, and something in his chest throbs almost painfully.

As soon as they arrive home, Sehun shuts himself in his room, drops his bag on the floor and sets his guitar down in front of him. He ends up only staring at it, unable to make himself even take it out of the case when he’s feeling like… whatever this is.

He crawls into bed instead, hiding under all the blankets. It’s frustration, more than anything. He let himself admit that he really does like Luhan, but earlier, Luhan seemed to not care at all. He had thought Luhan might’ve felt something too, what with all the teasing, the time spent together at the festival, and then last night--

But he was wrong, because Luhan had made very clear that he didn’t care. Even so, Sehun still can’t help wondering what he did to change Luhan’s attitude towards him.

Maybe it wasn’t last night at all, but before that? He rolls over and tries to think of the other things that had happened that day, but it’s mostly a blur of pre-stage prep and time spent in the crowd, and then Black Pearl’s performance, and…

And after that, sitting in the grass in the dark and fighting with Luhan about-- what? Sehun not giving enough of a shit?

He huffs and kicks the blankets off. Luhan was apparently under the impression that Sehun didn’t care about the things he explicitly stated he cared about. As if him not expressing those feelings meant that he didn’t have them, or he’s afraid of showing he cares, or something.

Sehun pauses, blinking up at the ceiling. Well. He sort of is afraid of that, he supposes. He still believes what he had said to Luhan, that saying things like that out loud makes them easy to tear down, makes the one who said them vulnerable.

Except… maybe that’s not a bad thing.

If Sehun had had his way from the beginning, Black Pearl never would’ve met up with Lost Planet at all - but the other members insisted that they ask for their help. They were laid open but Lost Planet got them thought it, and now--

Now they’ve just returned from one of the biggest music festivals in the country, where they both supported each other’s performances. And none of that would’ve happened if Sehun’s bandmates hadn’t let themselves be open and exposed.

Maybe, Sehun supposes, for these people he cares about so much… it’s okay to be vulnerable in front of them, because they will hold him up.

It’s still scary as fuck. His hands shake a little when he turns the door handle and steps out into the hallway, and the breath he takes before entering the living room is shuddery, but he makes himself do it.

Junmyeon sees him first, pausing halfway into putting his jacket on, and the other members stop mid-conversation to look up at Sehun standing at the edge of the room.

“Feeling better?” Jongin asks, after tense moment of silence. Sehun nods, trying to gather up his words before he actually says them.

“I think everyone’s a little weird right now,” Chanyeol says, leaning back on the couch. “Like, Pentaport was fun, but I need a couple days to recover.”

“I need a couple days to sleep,” Baekhyun says, dropping his head onto Chanyeol’s shoulder.

Junmyeon rolls his eyes, heading for the front door. “If you went to bed and woke up at half-decent times, you wouldn’t be so tired,” he calls.

“Thanks for the tip, Dad,” Baekhyun says flatly, and closes his eyes.

“Junmyeon,” Sehun calls out, making his stop and whirl around. “Don’t - don’t leave yet. There’s something I want to tell you.” He swallows nervously and looks around the room. “All of you. About the festival.”

Everyone looks a little worried, except Jongin, who looks up at Sehun with a smile. Sehun gives him a weak one in return and clears his throat.

“Pentaport was… really great,” he says, eyes on the floor. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt like that before. And… it made me realize that I - I care a lot. About Black Pearl. And I care a lot about you guys.” He swallows thickly, trying to push the rest of the words out before he loses them. “And I really-- I want to do this with you guys, with Black Pearl, for as long as we can.”

He looks up, taking in everyone’s surprised expressions and immediately flushing red. “Th-that’s it. You can go back to… doing whatever.”

There’s still another few beats of stunned silence before a muffled sniffle makes everyone whip their heads towards the door.

“Junmyeon?” Jongin calls hesitantly. “Are… are you _crying_?”

“No,” Junmyeon says quickly, but he sniffles again right after. “I’m just-- I’m very proud of all of you.”

“Don’t be gross,” Baekhyun whines. “Aren’t you late for a meeting, or something?”

“I really am,” Junmyeon agrees. The front door opens and closes with only a few sniffs in between.

The room goes quiet again, almost awkwardly so. “I didn’t mean to make anyone cry,” Sehun mumbles.

“He wasn’t sad, he was _moved_ ,” Baekhyun says, rolling his eyes. “People cry after heavy speech stuff all the time. It’s all about inspiration, whether it makes you wanna go change the world, or confess to the person you like, or _cry_ , for some reason--”

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol says softly, cutting him off. His hand had found its way on top of Baekhyun’s while he was speaking, and Baekhun glances down at it like he’s not entirely sure how it happened. “Baekhyun, I really have to tell you--”

Baekhyun’s eyes go wide and he claps his free hand over Chanyeol’s mouth before he can say any more. Sehun doesn’t think he’s ever seen him look so flustered.

“No,” he says quickly, glancing at the other two boys still in the room. Chanyeol’s expression dims for a moment, but Baekhyun goes on. “Not - not _here_ , lets-- my room, okay?”

Chanyeol nods as enthusiastically as he can with Baekhyun’s hand still over his mouth, and practically jumps off the couch. Baekhyun stands up and waves him out of the room, face flushed as he slinks past Sehun. Once his bedroom door clicks shut, Sehun catches Jongin’s eye and the two of them burst into half-stifled giggles.

When the fit passes, Jongin leans back on his hands, looking up at Sehun with another smile. “You okay?” he asks quietly, but it sounds louder in the now-empty room.

Sehun heaves a sigh, sitting down on the floor next to him. “That was fucking exhausting.”

Jongin laughs, shifting closer to him, and the two of them sit in silence for a few moments until Jongin speaks up again. “So.... where did that come from?”

“I… don’t really know,” Sehun says. “A lot of things, I guess.”

“Is one of those things Luhan?”

Sehun looks down at the floor. “He’s-- part of it, yeah.” He lets out a long breath. “There was-- last night after the show, we--”

“Listen,” Jongin says over him, “I don’t need or want to know the details, okay? The important thing is what you feel.”

Sehun gives him a look. “What I feel.”

Jongin nods. “About this, about the band, about _him_... about everything.” He touches Sehun’s shoulder gently. “I’m really happy you told us what you just did. It means a lot, and-- it’s not that we didn’t _know_ , but it does feel better to have it out in the open.”

Sighing, Sehun leans into the touch. “I guess you’re right.”

Jongin nods, smiling at him again. “If you keep stuff like that bottled up, then no one’s ever gonna know.”

Sehun thinks of watching Luhan on stage, and how he had looked lit up by lights and sound.

 _I’ll work on it_ , he tries to say.

“Where does Minseok live?” he asks instead.

\--

Minseok’s house doesn’t end up being terribly far away. It would’ve been nice to get a ride there, but Sehun figures the long walk will give him time to think of what he’s going to say. By the time he reaches the front door, though, he’s still got nothing but the knots in his stomach. He knocks anyway, managing a smile when Yixing answers the door, and steps inside without a plan.

It’s quiet in the house, quieter than he thought it would be considering it’s full of a band managed by Jongdae. Zitao and Minseok are asleep on the living room couch and Kyungsoo is making sandwiches in the kitchen, but Luhan is nowhere to be seen.

“He’s in his room,” Yixing whispers before Sehun can even ask. “He told us he’s napping, but I think he’s awake.”

He points Sehun down the hall and waves off his quiet thanks, smiling as he wanders away and leaves Sehun in front of Luhan’s door. It’s far enough down the hall that even the smallest sounds from the rest of the house are muffled. Sehun wonders if Luhan chose this room for that very reason, then makes himself knock lightly on the door before he can chicken out.

It takes a while, but it does eventually open, and a very tired-looking Luhan peeks out. He looks surprised for a few seconds before his expression shifts into something a little more annoyed. “What are you doing here?”

“I want to talk to you,” Sehun says, wincing internally at the vagueness of the statement.

Luhan opens the door a bit wider and leans against the frame. “We’re talking now.”

Sehun swallows nervously. “I meant about last night.”

“We’ve already been over this,” Luhan starts, rolling his eyes, but Sehun cuts him off.

“Look, I know it was just one night,” he says, sounding close to desperate, “and I know we weren’t in our right minds. But even if we had been, it would’ve been the same, okay?”

Luhan furrows his brow. “What--”

“It wasn’t just the drugs,” Sehun says in a rush. “I feel-- something. When I’m around you. Sober or not.”

He looks down at the carpet, not quite brave enough to watch Luhan’s face for his reaction. He tries to think of Jongin’s reassurance, but still feels himself bracing for something as he waits for Luhan to speak.

Luhan doesn’t, though, and instead grabs Sehun by the collar of his jacket and drags him into his room. Sehun blinks at him as he shuts the door behind them, and is surprised to see, when Luhan turns back around, that he looks almost… afraid.

“I do too,” Luhan whispers, not quite meeting Sehun’s eyes. “There’s… something. But it scares me too much to think about.”

Sehun frowns. “You’re scared of me?”

“Not of you,” Luhan says, rolling his eyes again. “Of - of being something _with_ you.” He looks down. Sehun takes a step closer to him.

“Do you want that?” he asks quietly.

Luhan doesn’t raise his head. “I don’t know,” he murmurs. “I don’t want to - to dive in if you can’t give back, and for the longest time you never showed any sign that you would.” He huffs a laugh. “I mean, you’re too scared to tell your bandmates that you care about them. How would you ever be able to tell me you want me?”

“I want you,” Sehun says, a little surprised at how easily the words come.

Luhan looks a bit stunned as well, but then he laughs, grabbing Sehun’s collar again and tugging him along. He walks backwards to his bed, then falls backwards and pulls Sehun down onto it with him. Sehun holds himself up with his hands on either side of Luhan’s head, looking down at him as Luhan stares right back up. He feels himself starting to smile.

“Say it again,” Luhan breathes.

Sehun leans down, brushing his lips over Luhan’s. “I want you,” he repeats against his mouth, then kisses him properly.

Luhan sighs underneath him as their lips slide together, making a tiny noise when Sehun pulls away to kiss lightly down his throat. He pauses at the dip of Luhan’s collarbones, hovering there.

“So, last night.”

Luhan groans quietly as soon as Sehun says it. Sehun is pretty sure he doesn’t mean for it to sound so hot, but it sends a shiver down his spine anyway.

“What _about_ last night?” Luhan demands, sounding impatient.

Sehun glances up at him. “Will you believe me now if I say it definitely meant something?”

He feels more than he hears the laugh Luhan sighs out. “Yes, don’t worry. I wanted to believe you earlier as well, but…”

He trails off and Sehun pulls back to look down at him properly. “But what?”

Luhan’s mouth twists, and he turns his head to one side, avoiding Sehun’s gaze. “I wanted it to mean something, but I didn’t think _you_ would.”

“Why?” Sehun asks, ducking back down to kiss the side of Luhan’s jaw.

“Most guys I’ve met are really only into the one-night-only thing.”

Sehun hums, nosing along his neck. “Have you met a lot of guys?”

“I’ve met a few,” Luhan says airily, only to gasp when Sehun swipes over the familiar dark red mark with his tongue.

“Let me make it up to you,” Sehun breathes against his neck. “All the lost time I wasn’t here for.”

Luhan hesitates. “What, like, now?”

Sehun pulls back again, frowning down at him. “Is that a problem?”

“There’s still some stuff I wanna talk about first, is all,” Luhan says, pouting a little.

“You want to have a _conversation_ first?”

Luhan shrugs. “Maybe I want to have a conversation, period.”

Sehun closes his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, then rolls off him, dropping to lie by his side instead. “Okay,” he sighs. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I’m glad you asked,” Luhan says with a grin, turning to lie on his side to face him. “Did you know Yixing is writing a song that he wants us to record with Black Pearl?”

“A collaboration?” Sehun has to admit that’s pretty nice to know. “Really?”

“Yeah, he’s stoked about it,” Luhan hums. “He wants Baekhyun’s vocals for sure, and your guitar, I think.”

Sehun blinks. “ _Really_?”

“Don’t act so modest,” Luhan laughs, then sits up. “We can go ask him about it right now, if you want.”

“Sure,” Sehun agrees, following him off the bed.

Luhan stops him by the door, leaning up to kiss him again. He gives him a soft smile when they break apart. Sehun returns it and lets him turn around to open the door, a sudden thought hitting him.

“What’s the song called?” he asks.

“Exoplanet,” Luhan says as he steps out into the hall. “Kinda weird. Do you think you’ll like it?”

Sehun smiles and follows him out of the room. “We’ll see.”

**Author's Note:**

> > disclaimer: my knowledge of record deals/music festivals/rock bands in korea is very limited and i made a LOT of this stuff up  
> > speaking of stuff i made up, this is an AU in which mdma is a sex drug ok... the pills baekhyun passes out were supposed to be mdma but after some extensive googling i found out that while it does strengthen touch-perception and is a ~love drug~, it’s quite common to have difficulty getting hard/coming while high on it so wOOPS BUT ITS FINE I GUESS


End file.
